---
title: Gary Betzner
aliases:
  - Gary Betzner
  - Gary Wayne Betzner
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
  - Person
  - DrugTrafficker
  - Pilot
  - 1980s
  - ContraWar
  - CongressionalTestimony
  - DarkAllianceInvestigation
summary: "Copilot who flew CIA-protected drug and weapons flights for the Contras and testified under oath as a Justice Department witness."
location: "Akron, Ohio"
---
Gary Wayne "Hippie" Betzner was a copilot who flew weapons and drug missions for Colombian trafficker [[George Morales]] in support of the [[Contras]]. Betzner, who had pleaded guilty to federal drug charges, testified during a federal trial in Oklahoma as a witness for the Justice Department - not as a defendant.[^1]

### Sworn Testimony

When asked by a defense lawyer if CIA people permitted him to fly airplanes into foreign countries carrying weapons, Betzner replied: "Why, sure." Asked if he brought drugs back, he said: "Yes." Asked if the CIA people knew what he was doing with the drugs, Betzner insisted: "Certainly."[^1]

Betzner said he was not surprised that his boss Morales was helping the Contras: "No, actually, I wasn't surprised by it because I knew that George was anti-Communist, as are most Colombians. So the Cartel and people like that are definitely anti-Communist. . .It's strictly a capitalist movement, this drug business."[^1]

Betzner and [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco|"Tito" Carrasco]] both confirmed George Morales's story about flying weapons to [[John Hull]]'s ranch in northern [[Costa Rica]] and returning with cocaine - under oath as U.S. government witnesses. George Morales also passed a DEA-administered lie detector test about his Contra drug dealings.[^1]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"